Vehicle occupant comfort analysis systems and methods

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of analyzing postural comfort of an occupant seated on a seat track of a vehicle includes obtaining, at a computing device having one or more processors, a first set of data corresponding to a mannequin definition, obtaining, at the computing device, a second set of data corresponding to reference geometry of an environment of the vehicle, and obtaining, at the computing device, a third set of data corresponding to vehicle occupant comfort guidelines. Including generating, at the computing device, a CAD template with a mannequin model, vehicle reference geometry including the seat track, and comfort guidelines based on the first set of data, the second set of data, and the third set of data, and automatically determining, at the computing device, whether one or more locations on the seat track are a comfortable seating position for the occupant based at least on the third set of data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of analyzing postural comfort of an occupant seated on a seat track of a vehicle, the method comprising:
 obtaining, at a computing device having one or more processors, a first set of data corresponding to a mannequin definition;   obtaining, at the computing device, a second set of data corresponding to reference geometry of an environment of the vehicle;   obtaining, at the computing device, a third set of data corresponding to vehicle occupant comfort guidelines;   generating, at the computing device, a CAD template with a mannequin model, vehicle reference geometry including the seat track, and occupant comfort guidelines based on the first set of data, the second set of data, and the third set of data;   automatically digitizing, by the CAD template and the computing device, the seat track with a plurality of tabulated points indicative of a predetermined step size on the seat track; and   evaluating, by the CAD template and the computing device, each point of the plurality of tabulated points to determine whether one or more locations on the seat track are a comfortable seating position for the occupant in view of the first set of data and the third set of data.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising, at the computing device, visually identifying on the CAD template each of the one or more tabulated points as either a pass/fail comfortable seating position. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising automatically outputting, at the computing device, one or more comfortable seating locations and posture angles as data for use in a downstream design process. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating, at the computing device, an interactive graphical user interface configured to manage additional inputs for the CAD template. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the additional inputs comprise:
 a desired step size indicative of the predetermined step size between analysis points on the seat track;   a mannequin anthropometry definition; and   at least one posture comfort angle definition.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the mannequin anthropometry definition includes a population percentile size and a torso angle. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the comfort angle definition includes:
 an ankle angle lower limit;   an ankle angle upper limit;   a knee angle lower limit; and   a knee angle upper limit.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of data corresponding to the mannequin definition includes a fully articulated model to represent mannequin body segments. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the mannequin body segments include a foot, a lower leg, an upper leg, a torso, and an upper arm, of the representative vehicle occupant. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the second set of data corresponding to reference geometry of an environment of the vehicle includes a seat travel of a seat to define the seat track. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein the second set of data further includes reference geometry of an accelerator pedal, a floor curve, a steering wheel, and a steering column of the vehicle. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the third set of data corresponding to vehicle occupant comfort guidelines includes one or more joint angles of the vehicle occupant. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more joint angles of the vehicle occupant includes an ankle joint angle, a knee joint angle, a hip joint angle, a shoulder joint angle, an elbow joint angle, and a wrist joint angle. 
     
     
         14 . A computing device, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 obtain a first set of data corresponding to a mannequin definition; 
 obtain a second set of data corresponding to reference geometry of an environment of the vehicle; 
 obtain a third set of data corresponding to vehicle occupant comfort guidelines; 
 generate a CAD template with a mannequin model, vehicle reference geometry including a seat track, and comfort guidelines based on the first set of data, the second set of data, and the third set of data; 
 automatically digitize, with the CAD template, the seat track with a plurality of tabulated points indicative of a predetermined step size on the seat track; and 
 evaluate each point of the plurality of tabulated points to determine whether one or more locations on the seat track are a comfortable seating position for the occupant in view of the first set of data and the third set of data. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computing device of  claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise visually identifying on the CAD template whether each tabulated point is a pass or fail comfortable seating position. 
     
     
         16 . The computing device of  claim 14 , wherein operations further comprise generating an interactive graphical user interface configured to manage additional user inputs for the CAD template, the additional inputs comprising:
 a desired step size indicative of the predetermined step size between analysis points on the seat track;   a mannequin anthropometry definition; and   at least one posture comfort angle definition.   
     
     
         17 . A computer-implemented method of analyzing postural comfort of an occupant seated on a seat track of a vehicle, the method comprising:
 obtaining, at a computing device having one or more processors, a first set of data corresponding to a mannequin definition for various human sizes;   obtaining, at the computing device, a second set of data corresponding to reference geometry of an environment of the vehicle;   obtaining, at the computing device, a third set of data corresponding to vehicle occupant comfort guidelines, including comfort ranges for an ankle angle, a knee angle, a torso angle, and an elbow angle;   generating, by the computing device, a CAD template with a mannequin model, vehicle reference geometry including the seat track, and occupant comfort guidelines based on the first set of data, the second set of data, and the third set of data;   generating, by the computing device, an interactive graphical user interface configured to manage additional inputs for the CAD template;   receiving, via the graphical user interface, user input to (i) adjust the mannequin definition to a desired human size, and (ii) define a desired step size between analysis points on the seat track;   digitizing, by the CAD template and the computing device, the seat track with a plurality of tabulated points indicative of the desired step size on the seat track;   executing, by the CAD template and the computing device, a postural comfort analysis to determine whether one or more locations on the seat track corresponding to the plurality of tabulated points are a comfortable seating position for the occupant in view of the first set of data, the third set of data, and the user input.